I'm Holding On to All I Think is Safe
by briewinchester88
Summary: Danny watched as they rolled Steve down the hall to the elevators. No one would tell him anything and he thought the worst. / pre-slash/McDanno


Okay, you have no idea how hard it was for me to come up with an ending for this fic. I struggled between writing a death fic or not. I hope you'll like what I finally decided on.

Enjoy!

* * *

It wasn't supposed to happen this way.

The doctors said it was supposed to be a simple surgery. Danny was talking with Steve one minute and the next, he's being shoved out into the hall to watch as Steve was swarmed by doctors and nurses. Danny cradled his broken left arm close to his chest as one of the nurses called for a crash cart.

Danny couldn't keep his tears from falling as he thought back over the events that got them here.

_Two days ago…_

_Steve barged through the doors of HQ and motioned for everyone to gather around the tech table. He pushed a few buttons and brought up a few documents and photos._

_"Ok guys, this is Manuel Ignacio Gonzalez. He was Emilio Ochoa's second-in-command and he's looking to take over where Ochoa left off. I don't have all the details on when he's coming to Hawaii, but this is our number one priority case."_

_Chin made the calls to HPD and all the airports to keep an eye out for Manuel. Later that afternoon, they finally got a hit. Chin entered Steve's office._

_"Boss, we got something." Chin said._

_Steve followed Chin out to the bullpen and leant on the edge of the tech table. "What'ya got?"_

_Chin pulled up the surveillance footage of Honolulu airport and zoomed in on Manuel. "Security cameras caught Manuel coming in late last night. I lost him after he left the airport but at least we know he's on the island."_

_Steve nodded. "Alright good. Find out what kind of car he was driving and track it down. We have to find him before he can set up his business." he walked back into his office to make some phone calls._

Present day…

It's been ten minutes since Danny was ushered out to the hallway. He started pacing five minutes ago and no one had come to talk to him yet. He could still hear the beeping coming from Steve's room. He was in the middle of a panic attack and it wasn't helping his blood pressure.

He became very concerned as they began wheeling a still unconscious Steve to the elevators. He grabbed one of the nurses.

"Please, what's going on?" he pleaded desperately.

The nurse looked at Danny sympathetically. "Detective, I'm sorry but I have to go. I'll come talk to you soon. Right now, we have to get Commander McGarrett up to the OR."

Danny watched as the nurse followed the rest of them to the elevators, taking Steve away from him again. He followed after them when he could remember how to walk and making himself comfortable in the waiting area.

_Yesterday…_

_They finally had a location for Manuel Gonzalez. HPD, SWAT, and Five-0 had the building surrounded and Steve was getting antsy. Danny was trying to keep him calm until they could execute their plan._

_"Would you stop it? You're driving me crazy." Danny said irritably._

_Steve glared at Danny. "I can't help it. I can't sit here anymore. I want to go in there and take him down."_

_"I know you do babe, but we have a plan for a reason. Just stick to it and we'll get him." he soothed._

_So Steve waited. And waited. And waited until he couldn't wait any longer. He gave a look at Danny before making a run for the warehouse._

_"Oh shit!" Danny exclaimed before running after Steve. They both just stepped through the door when all hell broke loose._

_Sounds of gunfire echoed all throughout the building. Both Steve and Danny immediately took cover, taking out most of Gonzalez's men. A brief pause in the gunfire had Danny looking over at Steve worriedly._

_Steve looked back at Danny before running out into the open; Danny not far behind. Manuel saw them both coming and tossed a couple of grenades in their direction._

_Steve saw the grenades and tried to get them both to safety, but it was too late._

_Danny came to, a few minutes later, a throbbing pain in his left arm. He groaned when he jostled his arm trying to get to Steve. Panic welled up in his chest at the sight of a motionless Steve. He reached over to feel for a pulse, sighing in relief when he got one, albeit a weak one._

_"Steve, hey, hey Steve. C'mon buddy, wake up for me. Steve! Don't you dare die on me Steven!"_

Present day…

Danny sat in that uncomfortable hospital chair, hunched over and elbows resting on his knees, fingers clenched in his hair. For the first time, ever since he was younger, he began to pray that Steve would be okay and make a full recovery. Tears began to fall from his eyes again.

"Please, don't let me lose my best friend. Please, please, please. I can't lose him, not now."

Danny had no idea how long he sat there until a gentle hand settled on his shoulder and was startled out of his musings. He looked up to find the nurse from before. A feeling of dread settled into his chest.

"Is he—" he couldn't finish the sentence.

The nurse took a seat next to Danny and squeezed his shoulder. She smiled softly at him.

"Commander McGarrett is fine. While he was in his room, we were giving him transfusions but he kept losing blood and we couldn't figure out why. That caused his blood pressure to drop. While we were working on him, he crashed. By that time, the doctor figured there had to be a bleeder that was missed during surgery. During surgery, he crashed again. He was down for five minutes before we were able to bring him back."

Danny's breath hitched and the tears fell again. "Where is he? Can I see him?"

She smiled apologetically at him. "He's in ICU at the moment. He'll be there until his platelet levels return to normal."

Danny nodded. "Okay, but can I see him?"

The nurse stood. "I shouldn't do this, but you look pretty shaken up. Come on, I'll take you to him. Just as a precaution, he's not going to look like himself. He'll be very pale, almost ashen looking and he'll have many tubes and wires sticking out of and on him."

Danny stood on shaky legs and followed the nurse to Steve. Every step he took came with a feeling that Steve was alive and that he was going to make it. When they reached the Intensive Care Unit and Steve's room, Danny was feeling a mixture of emotions.

He stepped cautiously into the room and walked over to Steve's bed and gently took Steve's uninjured hand in his own and sat down in the chair before he fell down. He rested his forehead on the edge of the bed.

"Don't you ever do that to me again Steven. Do you hear me? Even unconscious you almost give me a heart attack. When you make it through this, I'm going to kill you." he squeezed Steve's hand.

"God, I thought I lost you. They wouldn't tell me anything and I thought the worst. I can't lose you, not now. Besides Grace, you are the best thing to ever happen to me. And I'll admit, you and Grace are the best things about this island. Well, also coco puffs and malasadas, but you already knew that."

He let go of Steve's hand to card his fingers through Steve's sweaty hair and bent over and placed a chaste kiss to Steve's sweaty forehead. "I love you, so you better get well soon and wake up so I can tell you in person."

Danny sat back down in his chair and kept a constant vigil at Steve's bedside. The nurses were so nice to let him stay when they could have kicked him out. He was so worried about Steve that he didn't notice that his arm began to hurt and he didn't want to bother the nurses for painkillers. He fell asleep in the uncomfortable chair and didn't notice when Steve woke up.

Steve slowly blinked his eyes open and he heard a steady beeping noise coming from his left. He groaned when he remembered that he was in the hospital. He took inventory of his injuries: broken wrist, bruised ribs, minor cuts and bruises, and a concussion.

He looked over to his left and found Danny sleeping. He heard everything Danny said. He studied Danny and he looked worse for wear. He swallowed around his dry throat.

"D'nny." he cleared his throat. "Danny." It came out as a hoarse whisper, but it did the trick.

Danny jerked awake, looking around for what woke him. He cleared the sleep from his eyes and looked over at Steve, who was staring back at him. He leapt from his chair and was by Steve's side instantly. He cupped the side of Steve's face, with his uninjured one, and covered Steve's lip with his. He didn't care that they were in the hospital. He only cared that Steve was alive and awake.

Steve was shocked. "Danny? What're—"

"Shut up Steven. Just shut up and kiss me."

Steve closed his eyes and brought his own uninjured hand up and cupped the back of Danny's head. He angled his head and licked over the seam of Danny's lips, asking for entrance.

Danny opened his mouth to Steve, tangling his tongue with Steve's, fighting for dominance. After a few minutes, Danny had to pull back; his emotions were all over the place. He rested his forehead on Steve's as the tears fell down his face again.

"You are never allowed to do that to me ever again. You have no idea what you put me through this time. I thought—God, I thought I'd never see you again."

Steve brought his other hand up and framed Danny's face, wiping away the tears and placing chaste kisses over Danny's face.

"Hey, hey, hey, Danno. Shh, shh, it's alright. I'm gonna be fine. I'm right here. Not going anywhere, I promise." Steve moved over in his bed, making room for Danny. He pulled Danny into his side and carded his fingers through Danny's blond mane, trying to soothe him.

Danny buried his face in Steve's neck, breathing in the scent that was all Steve. It helped to calm him down and reassure him that Steve was alive. He laughed at himself for his immaculate timing.

"This isn't how I pictured this going. I was thinking about telling you on your beach while having a beer, not when you were on the verge of death." he said.

Steve continued his soothing motions. "I heard you, ya know. Earlier when I was unconscious. And just for the record, I love you too."

They both laid there in a comfortable silence, Steve never wavering from his comforting touches. He looked down at Danny's casted arm over his waist. "How's the arm?"

Danny was almost asleep when Steve's question brought him back to reality. "Hm? Oh, it hurts a little. Nothing I can't handle."

Steve let it go for now, too tired to argue with Danny. "Get some sleep Danno. We'll talk more when we wake up."

Danny nodded his head before drifting off to sleep, wrapped up in Steve's protective arms.


End file.
